Ayahuasca and tobacco smoking cessation: results from an online survey in Brazil
This survey study (n=411) assessed the factors that predict smoking cessation in people who reported quitting or reducing smoking following ayahuasca consumption. Mystical experience and frequency of ayahuasca intake were protective factors, while positive mood (measured by the MEQ30) during the ayahuasca experience was a risk factor. Qualitative analysis revealed eight themes related to the process of smoking cessation/reduction.
Authors
- Luiz Tófoli
- Lucas Maia
Published
Abstract
Rationale
Smoking-related disease is a major problem globally. Effective smoking cessation treatments are however limited. Increasing evidence suggests that psychedelics have potential as treatments for substance use disorders and may therefore prove an option in aiding smoking cessation.
Objectives
To establish which factors predict smoking cessation in people who reported quitting or reducing smoking following ayahuasca consumption.
Methods
A retrospective cross-sectional mixed-method study (quantitative and qualitative design) was undertaken using data from an online survey evaluating peoples’ experiences before and after drinking ayahuasca. Multivariate logistic regression was performed with smoking condition (cessation or reduction/relapse) as a dependent variable and demographics, smoking, ayahuasca-related variables and the mystical experience (MEQ30) as predicting factors.
Results
A total of 441 responses were grouped according to self-reported smoking status: cessation (n = 305) or reduction/relapse (n = 136) smoking. Logistic regression showed that mystical experience (OR: 1.03; 95% CI [1.00-1.05]) and frequency of ayahuasca intake (OR: 2.16[1.00-4.70]) were protective factors, while positive mood (measured by the MEQ30) during the ayahuasca experience was a risk factor (OR: 0.91[0.85-0.97]). Qualitative thematic analysis identified eight themes (e.g. acquired awareness, spiritual experience, increased motivation) related to the ayahuasca experience and the process of smoking cessation/reduction.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that ayahuasca could be used as a potential tool for smoking cessation and that effects may be mediated by mystical experience. Given the current burden of smoking-related disease and the limited treatment options, studies are needed to investigate the efficacy of psychedelics in smoking cessation.
Research Summary of 'Ayahuasca and tobacco smoking cessation: results from an online survey in Brazil'
Introduction
Tobacco smoking remains a leading global cause of death and disability, and conventional cessation interventions achieve sustained abstinence in only a minority of smokers. Recent clinical and survey evidence has suggested that serotonergic psychedelics can produce sustained reductions in tobacco use for some individuals, potentially via pharmacological effects on neuroplasticity and subjective mechanisms such as insight or mystical-type experiences. Ayahuasca, an Amazonian brew legally used in Brazil in religious and ritual settings, contains DMT plus monoamine oxidase inhibiting beta-carbolines and has been associated in observational work with reductions in substance use and withdrawal symptoms. Daldegan-Bueno and colleagues set out to identify factors associated with self-reported smoking cessation or reduction following ayahuasca consumption in a naturalistic sample. Using a retrospective, cross-sectional mixed-methods design, the study aimed to combine quantitative modelling (including scores on a mystical experience questionnaire) with inductive thematic analysis of free-text accounts to explore which demographic, smoking-related and ayahuasca-related variables predicted quitting versus reduction/relapse.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
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- APA Citation
Daldegan-Bueno, D., Maia, L. O., Massarentti, C. M., & Tófoli, L. F. (2022). Ayahuasca and tobacco smoking cessation: results from an online survey in Brazil. Psychopharmacology, 239(6), 1767-1782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-022-06063-2
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